Chapter 1

Mary Margaret put the last of their things in the trunk of the Impala before shutting it. She looked up and startled to see Regina next to her; she was sure her friend hadn't been there a second before.

Demons were naturally stealthy beings, after all.

"You sure you want to do this?" Regina asked in a low voice, more gravelly now than Mary Margaret was used to. She was speaking to Mary Margaret but kept her eyes trained somewhere to the left of her.

Mary Margaret didn't even bother trying to make eye contact. She didn't think she'd be able to even if she wanted to try. Regina's eyes were green at the moment, they always were whenever they looked at her now, but the memory of seeing Regina with those cold, inky black eyes for the first time still haunted her.

"Hades! Show yourself! Or I swear to God, I will hunt you down-"

"Now now, let's not be melodramatic, Moose. Impatience does not become you, does it?" Hades appeared suddenly, inside the Devil's Trap Regina had set with a cheshire grin on her face. The fact that Shawn seemed practically giddy when Regina had been waiting for hours waiting for him to show up, each second, minute, hour, making the hole where his heart used to be ache and burn that much more, enraged him.

But Mary Margaret didn't have time to vent her rage by screaming at Hades, tempting as it might be. The demon could refuse her offer, after all. So she settled for an intense glare that communicated everything she didn't have time for (or a bitch face, as Regina called it, and fuck if that thought didn't feel like a knife in her gut). "Bring her-"

"Done and done," the god smirked, cutting Mary Margaret off in the process. It only grew wider when Mary Margaret's glare intensified.

Swallowing the anger that threatened to consume her, Mary Margaret asked "What do you mean by that?

"I mean," the god stepped a little closer to Mary Margaret while still in the confines of the circle, "that Regina is alive. Well, technically." He cocked his head to the side. "It's a matter of perspective, really."

Mary Margaret was already halfway out of the room when Hades's words stopped her cold. "That isn't your friend in there."

"What?" Mary Margaret hissed.

"That is one of my demons, one of my favorite demons, to be exact. MY Knight of Hell. You see, Regina died with the Mark of Cain still intact. Thus, she is a demon."

"No. No, you're lying-"

"I NEVER lie! You know that!" Hades actually seemed genuinely offended that Mary Margaret would think him capable of that. "Tell you what, go see for yourself. But I guarantee you won't like it. It's not a pretty sight, I'll tell ya that. But you're a glutton for punishment, aren't you?" He mimed looking at a nonexistent watch on his wrist. "Well, I really must be going now. Toodles,Mary Margaret." And with that, the King of the underworld was gone.

"Hey wait! Hades!" Regina shouted.

Not even a second later, Hades appeared in front of her again. "Oh, almost forgot. Tell your egghead of an older friend 'I will not be requiring her services at this time, so feel free to do whatever your little demonic heart desires.' And do keep an eye on her, this time." With one last smirk, he vanished.

Mary Margaret stood there approximately half a second contemplating the King of the underworld's words before she was once again running towards where she could find Regina.

She was always running towards Regina. All paths lead to Regina, as far as she was concerned. For better or worse…

But when Mary Margaret reached Regina's rooms she found her legs wouldn't move. She stood at the threshold, frozen in place. Her hand hesitated on the doorknob, ready to turn it any time, and yet it still wouldn't move. Why? Why couldn't she do something so simple as turn a friggin doorknob?

She was scared of what she would find on the other side of that door, that's why.

Hades said that Regina wasn't the same, implying that Regina wasn't even remotely human anymore. If Regina-

Regina.

Regina. THAT'S what she would find on the other side of the door, and nothing else. It didn't matter what shape she was in, she was still Regina, right?

And suddenly Mary Margaret couldn't stand one more second away from her friend. With conviction she turned the doorknob and stepped through the threshold, mentally bracing herself for anything she might see. But the only thing she saw was her friend sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the door, as if she'd been expecting her.

The sight of her friend awake and seemingly alright, and most importantly, ALIVE, nearly took her breath away. God, she was alive.

In the blink of an eye Mary Margaret was crushing Regina in what could only be described as a bear hug. She clung to her as tightly as physically possible and planned to do so as long as Regina would let her, aware of her friend's dislike for physical contact longer than strictly necessary, but she needed this, dammit. The last time she'd hugged Regina she'd felt the life fading out of her and… she hadn't hugged back.

After a few seconds she realized something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Normally no matter what Regina would hug back just as tight, but now… now she was as stiff as a bored. Her body language gave no indication that she was being embraced. And with a start Mary Margaret realized something… Regina smelled different. She buried his face deeper into the hollow of Regina's neck as if willing the scent to be a trick of her imagination. But it wasn't.

Regina smelled like sulfur.

Like a demon.

"Regina…" Mary Margaret whispered. "Regina, please." She didn't even know what she was asking her for. To hear her voice? To tell her that this was all just a sick joke? To tell her that everything would be alright, even if nothing would ever be alright again? To just be Regina, her friend again? It was all of them, and none of them.

Regina was still unnaturally still. With a hitch of her breath, Mary Margaret came to the conclusion Regina wasn't going to move anytime soon. Slowly, Mary Margaret released Regina from her embrace just enough that she could see her face. Her eyes were closed, as they had been when she'd walked into the room.

"Regina? Come on, answer me. Regina. Please, Regina." She was close to begging now.

And Regina did. In the time it took Mary Margaret to blink, Regina had her eyes open and was fixing Mary Margaret with a steely glare. Their faces were level so Mary Margaret saw it perfectly.

Regina's eyes were black.

"Get. Away. From. Me." Regina hissed in a low and threatening tone.

Mary Margaret didn't need to be told twice. She jumped across the room as if burned. "Regina, what… what the HELL is going on?" Mary Margaret gasped.

Regina's answering smirk was made all the more intimidating by the inky black pools that were now her eyes. "Heya, Mary M. It's just me. Your friend,Regina. Something wrong?"

Mary opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her mouth was dry. She supposed if she thought about it she'd recognize that she was in shock, but at the moment it was all she could do to keep looking at Regina. To stare at Regina's eyes, specifically. It was as if it were physically impossible for her to look anywhere else.

"Hmm? Cat got your tongue?" Regina mimed looking confused for a second and then made a show of snapping her fingers as if suddenly realizing something important. "Oh, yeah! The demon thing, right? Is that it?"

When Mary Margaret still refused to answer she seemed to become irritated. "What, too GOOD to talk to your friend now? Ha. You always were a hypocrite. Probably can't speak because you're too SCARED. The fear is eating away at you about now, right?" The frown on her face morphed into a smile that looked sick and twisted on Regina's face with those eyes. It was wrong, all wrong. "Well, I'll tell you something, Mary. You should be."

In a raw display of strength Regina stood and grabbed the chair by the bed and ripped the legs off with her bare hands. She stomped on what was left of the chair and ground it beneath her boot, turning it to dust. She then yanked the guns off their displays on the wall one by one and smashed them, crushed them, stomped on them, and tore them apart with her bare hands as easily as one would a pastry. When she was done with that she simply set upon tearing the room apart. She threw the bed, kicked whatever debris was on the floor and threw anything she could find. Through it all she kept her cold black eyes trained on Mary Margaret's.

When it was over, when there was nothing left to destroy Regina just stood there glaring at Mary Margaret. She should have been panting, but she showed no signs of exhaustion and appeared as cool as ice. "See, Mary? THIS is what I'm going to do to you if you don't stay the hell away from me. I will END you. I will DESTROY you. SO STAY AWAY FROM ME!" For the first time Regina lost her cool as she shouted at Mary Margaret.

And it was that moment that Mary Margaret knew what Regina was doing: protecting her.

Protecting her from all the dangers her being a demon could entail. Protecting her the same way she'd been doing her entire life. Always protecting her, even if she didn't want it. Except this time, Regina was protecting her from herself.

"You can stop the whole 'Big Bad Demon' act now, Regina," Mary Margaret said and lifted her head to glare at Regina. "I know this is all just macho bullshit to get me to leave you so you can go off on your own."

"Mary Margaret…"

"No! This is just more of that 'protect Mary' shit, isn't it? When are you going to realize I don't need you to protect me anymore?"

"Maybe when you can clean up your own messes without screwing everything up for once? Because you need it? Because I need it? Take your pick!" Regina shouted back, venom clear in her voice.

Mary Margaret flinched as if she'd been slapped. "You're right. Maybe you should go. It's probably for the best. You obviously don't need my help now that you're a DEMON."

Regina's eyes had remained locked with Mary Margaret's ever since she'd opened them, never once straying for so much as a second. So Mary Margaret was able to see the brief flash of hurt cross Regina's features, even with the black eyes, before the same expressionless mask she'd been wearing slipped back into place.

didn't know if it was a trick of the light or just wishful thinking, but she could have sworn she'd seen a flicker of brown as Regina turned away to leave, and every bit of her resolve crumbled instantly. She grabbed Regina's sleeve and held it tightly between her fingers, like a child silently begging her parent not to leave them alone. Her grip tightened as she felt Regina stiffen. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?" She whispered. "Hurting you. Letting you down. Like always."

Regina shook her head, but still did not turn to face Mary Margaret. "No. No, you're doing the right thing by letting me go."

"How many times have I thought I was doing the right thing when I was only hurting the ones I care about? Dammit Regina, let me help you this time. You didn't give up on me when I was addicted to demon blood or even when I was soulless, or during the trials. I'm not giving up on you. Ever. It's my turn to save your ass for once, and I don't care what I have to do to do that."

"Mary Margaret…" Regina's voice came, low and a little gruff, to Mary Margaret's ears and it sounded so much like the old Regina it was music to her ears. "Don't… being with me is a huge risk, and- and I'm not willing to risk your life again. Don't ask me to. Don't make me take that risk. I can't. I just can't."

"Just… please don't go. Regina- I… I need you, okay?" Her voice was barely audible, but Regina heard it loud and clear.

"I need you".

Those three words rang in Regina's ears. She repeated them over and over in her head, like a mantra, because she just couldn't believe they had really come out of Mary Margaret's mouth. Really, that was all Regina needed: to know that she was needed. That her shitty life had a purpose.

And that did it. Regina's mask, the act she was putting on in an attempt to scare Mary Margaret away, shattered to pieces. She could never refuse Mary Margaret anything, especially not when she sounded so desperate. Never.

Regina turned to face Mary Margaret, and her eyes were the same brown Mary Margaret had been gazing into her entire life. Mary Margaret's own eyes were suddenly burning and she pulled her friend into an embrace.

This time, finally, Regina hugged back just as tightly. Mary Margaret was so elated to feel Regina reciprocating she wasn't surprised she couldn't stop a few of the tears in her eyes from escaping. She smiled a little when she felt Regina leaving a similar wet spot on her shoulder. Regardless that she'd surely be embarrassed about it later, Mary Margaret continued to cling to Regina like a lifeline long past their normal amount of contact.

When they finally pulled apart Mary Margaret was pleased to see Regina's eyes were still brown. She idly wondered if Regina could control it like other demons seemed able to, and continued to stare before becoming aware Regina was speaking to her. "I'm sorry… what?"

Regina sighed. "Enough with the meaningful eye contact crap. This is all one huge chick flick and it's making me sick. I was saying, if we do this, we do this MY way."

"And what way is that, exactly? Care to share the master plan?" Mary Margaret asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm working on it."

"Well… what do you want?"

Regina furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "What do I want? What do you mean?"

"I mean… what do you WANT? Hades told me you're off the hook, at least for now. Apparently your 'services are not required at this time', whatever that means."

"Yeah, I remember him saying something like that after I woke up… huh. I dunno… kind of leaves me with the heebie jeebies. Since when does Hades ever let us off easy? And without it coming back to bite us in the ass?"

"I know, it smells fishy, I smell it too. But… why look a gift horse in the mouth?"

Regina shrugged. "I guess… Either way, we'll find out how he's screwing us over this time later." She paused. "Mary Margaret, look-"

She didn't even need to finish her sentence. "Regina, no. We're sticking together, whether you're calling the shots or not. End of story."

Regina gave a long, irritated groan. "Uggghhhh, why can't things be black and white the way they used to be? Before all this angels and demons shit happened? And you used to actually listen to me at least part of the time?"

Mary Margaret looked momentarily stunned before a small smile crept on her face. She'd just gotten an idea. Who knows if it would actually work, but she was willing to give it a try. "Regina, why don't we?"

"Huh?"

"Let's do it. Let's go on the road, just us two, the way we used to. No big picture stuff. Just us and the open road. Saving people, hunting things, the family business, right?"

Regina bit her lip. "It can't be that easy. You know it'd never work."

"Why not? Hades minions knows where. Ruby is dealing with Metatron. What's stopping us? And it's not all or nothing. We stay gone only as long as we feel like."

Mary Margaret watched eagerly as Regina struggled internally for a few more seconds. She turned to her with, for the first time in a long long time, hope in her eyes. "You mean it?"

Mary Margaret smiled. "Of course."

Regina laughed, actually laughed. "Let's do it."

Mary Margaret sighed. "Of course I'm not sure. Far from it. I could potentially be making the greatest mistake of my life for all I know." She finally looked up and met Regina's eyes with a crooked, tentative smile. "Let's do it."

Regina's answering smile was all human.

Regina had supposedly wanted to get as far away as possible. Her mood seemed to improve the further away from the bunker they got. She'd even sang "Back In Black" at the top of her lungs, and the irony hadn't been lost on either of them (she'd even flashed her eyes black once). Mary Margaret had simply rolled her eyes at her friends antics.

It was so typical, so Regina,for her to make a joke about a very serious situation, such as her new status as a demon. Regina should really be taking this more seriously… but the more she thought about it, wasn't it a good thing? It meant Regina was being Regina. Not even losing her humanity could change her demeanor; smartass comments, sarcasm, and pop culture references included. The thought made Mary Margaret smile, a real smile, like she hadn't in a long time.

Regina raised an eyebrow. Mary Margaret shook her head in response. It wasn't something she could easily explain.

They finally stopped for the night in a seedy looking motel after about nine hours of driving, only stopping for the occasional rest stop for Mary Margaret. It was strange for her to think that they were only stopping because she needed to, though. Usually it was Regina pushing to stop and take a break. But now that she was a demon, she didn't need that.

Mary Margaret's stomach churned.

When they arrived at their motel Mary Margaret got out of the car to get their room while Regina parked. When she returned she found Regina standing in front of the trunk with a look of intense concentration on her face. "What's up?" Mary Margaret asked, mildly curious.

Regina grit her teeth as she answered. "I don't know if I can open the trunk." For a supposedly all-powerful demon, she looked remarkably like a five year old told she couldn't have dessert.

Mary Margaret couldn't take it anymore. All the stress, the tension building inside her for who knows how long, left her as her shoulders slumped. She'd been on edge for days and she just couldn't do it anymore. That was her reasoning as she doubled over with laughter, laughing so hard tears streamed down her face. It sounded hysterical, even to her own ears, but she couldn't stop. Maybe she was finally having a nervous breakdown or a psychotic break or something. She found she didn't care as she heard Regina laughing along with her.

Their first hunt was a Werewolf hunt in a small town in Montana.

There were already two corpses, both killed with their hearts ripped out on the nights of the full moon. Classic Were hunt, and Mary Margaret was more than confident in identifying it as so.

So she really should have been more prepared.

They were in the forest where the two victims had been killed, waiting for the wolf to show. Against Mary Margaret's better judgement, they'd split up because they didn't know from which direction the wolf would come from. It was dark, she couldn't see or hear her friend, and that made Mary Margaret nervous. Logically, she knew that was ridiculous; her friend was a demon now, but… old habits die hard.

Suddenly, Mary Margaret heard a branch snap behind her. Instinctively, she knew it wasn't Regina.

She barely had enough time to turn around before the four-legged creature was on top of her, trying to sink it's fangs into her neck and tear her heart out. It snarled and growled and snapped its jaws as it tried to kill its prey, something that should have alerted Regina already. In the scuffle, she lost his grip on her gun with silver bullets in it. And with the wolf on top of her, it was impossible to reach the silver knife stuck inside her boot.

Double shit.

"Regina!" Mary Margaret called out. No answer.

Mary Margaret only had one thought as she fought the losing battle of keeping the wolf's claws out of her chest.

Where was Regina?